Wheel attachment



UNITED STATES PATENT Ormes.

EDWARD M. Bei-ANNAN AND DANIEL J. HUGHES, or SAVANNAH, TENNESSEE.

WHEEL ATTACHMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 554,860, dated February 18, v 1896. Application tiled October 28, 1895. Serial NO 567,131. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD M. BUCHAN- NAN and DANIEL J. HUGHES, citizens of the United States, residing at Savannah, in the county of Hardin and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful WVheel Attachment, of which the following is a speciiication. l

Our invention relates to wheels,.and particularly to means for bracing the spokes to prevent looseness in a new wheel and repair an old wheel or one in which the spokes have become loose by wear.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed outl in the appended claim.

In the drawings, Figure l is a front view of a wheel constructed in accordance with our invention, the same being partly in section. Fig. 2 is a section at right angles to the plane of Fig. 1 on the line 2 2 of said figure. Fig. 3 is a detail view in perspective in one of the clamps. Fig. 4 is a detail viewshowing a modied construction of means for securing the arms of the clamps to the spokes.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the draw- 1rgs.

The attachment may be applied to a wheel of any ordinary construction, and it comprises, essentially, a series of metallic clamps adapted to be arranged in the V-shaped spaces betvv een adjacent spokes and means for holding said clamps snugly in the angles between the spokes to apply lateral pressure or spreading tension to the spokes.

Any desired number of clamps may be employed upon a wheel, according to the number of spokes which have become loose or ree quire repair when the attachment is applied to an old wheel; but when the same is applied to a new wheel at the time of manufacturing the same it is preferable to arrange one of the clamps between each two contiguous spokes, whereby the lateral bracing-tension is continuous throughout the wheel and the spokes are thereby stiffened in their sockets and held in their proper relative positions.

Each clamp consists of a pair of integral arms l, concavo-convex in cross-section to fit around the adjacent Surfaces of the spokes, the concave sides being outward, and the inner or contiguous ends of these arms are connected to or integral with a transverse bearing-plate 2, which is arranged upon the surface of the hub between the two spokes in contact with which the arms are arranged.

This bearing-plate projects at its extremitiesv beyond the side edges of the arms and beyond the inner andouter sides of the spokes for engagement by securing-rings 3, which are applied over the extremities of the hub and are forced snugly to place with their facing edges in contact, respectively, with opposite sides of the series of spokes. The arms of the clamps are preferably secured to the spokes by means of pins or screws 4 orbands 5, (shown in Fig. 4,) whereby the longitudinal slipping of the spokes between the opposing arms of two adjacent clamps is prevented.

From the above description it will be seen that by means of the clamps and the securing-rings the spokes may be drawn down firmly into their sockets in the hub, or, if preferred, the clamps may be employed as the means for supporting or connecting the spokes to the hub, whereby a short spoke may be extended and held in its extended position.

. Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described our invention, what we claim is-` The herein described attachment for wheels, the same consisting of a V-shaped clamp adapted to be arranged between the contiguous spokes of a wheel and having outwardly-divergent cross-sectionally concavoconvex arms rigidly connected at their inner ends to a plate which lies in contact with the surface of the hub between the spokes and projects et its extremities beyond the inner our own We have hereto afiixed our signatures and outer sides of the spokes, and secnringin the presence of two Witnesses.

rings encircling the hub :und engaging the T T T projecting extremities of said plate, the ftrlns B'lgggllxh BAIN' 5 of the chunp being secured near their ex- J T tremities to the spokes, snbstztnti( ily its speci- VtneSSeS: fied. JAS. WILLIAMS, Jr.,

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as J AS. XVILLIAMS, Sr.

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